Drilling mechanism



Oct. 4, 1932. H BLOUNT www@ DRILLING MECHANI SM Filed April ll. 1930 2Sheets-Sheet l Y n M ATTORNEY H. BLOUNT DRILLING MECHANISM Filed Aprilll, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 /NVENTOR H. @Lau/vr ATTRNEY Patented Oct. 4,1932 l A UNITED STATES PATENT ortica HARRY BLOUN T, GF OAK PARK,ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO WESTERN ELECTRIC COMPANY,

(INCORPORATED, OE NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK DRILLING-MECHANISM Application filed April 11, 1930. Serial No. 443,316.

This invention relatesto a drilling mechanism and more particularly to amechanism for drilling a plurality of bodies, such as diamond dies.

An object of the invention is the provision of a compact and efficientmechanism for drilling a body.

One embodiment of the invention contemplates the provisionin a diamonddie drilling machine,upon an exterior sleeve of a central verticalpedestal, of a plurality of sets of drill and die spindles, the former.being driven through friction pinions from a drive wheel rotated by avertical shaft within the pedestal.v The die spindles are reciprocatedvertically between rollers by a spring and cam arrangement actuated fromthe vertical shaft and are individually readily lremovable from themachine.. A cutting liquid is in- `termittently delivered to each ofthedies Y panying drawings forming a part thereof, iii

which 5 Fig. 1 is a fragmentary vertical section of a multipleunitdrilling machine constituting one embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan section taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged section taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1 showingdetails of the drilling unit;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged section taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary enlarged section taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 1showing further details of the drilling unit.

Referring to the drawings, wherein similar parts are indicated byidentical reference numerals, a pedestal base 1() k(Fig. l) supports amultiple unit drilling machine, generally designated by the numeral 11,upon a conventional type of bench 12. A plurality of identical drillingunits 14,`in the particular embodiment, ten such being shown, aremounted in the machine7 each including a U-shaped rocker arm 15 whichsupports a drilling spindle 16 and in aligned relation thereto, a diespindle 18. The rockerarms Y 15, 1.5 are mounted upon the periphery of anormally stationary exterior sleeve 19 of the machine by means ofindividual brackets.

20, 20, the arms being,pivotallyvattached thereto by means of a pin 22.rAn upper end of the U-shapedarm -is formed with a tubular portion 23which accommodates a slidable sleeve 24, within which is rotatablymounted the drilling spindleV 16. A drilling needle orpoint 27 of anyconventional type appropriate for the drilling of blanks or diamond diesis provided upon the lower end of the spindle 16. Upon the upper end Ofthe drilling spindle a friction pinion 28 is formed for the purpose ofactuating the drill in a manner to be described hereafter. A circularshelf 30 is formed upon the upper end of the exterior sleevel9 and isprovided with suitable peripheral spaced recesses 31 for the purpose ofaccommodating-the tubular portion 23 of the rocker arms.

The exterior sleeve is provided with a c entral kaperture 32 throughwhich extends a stationary sleeve 34, having at its lower extremity aflange by means of which the interior sleeve is secured to the pedestalbase 10 with a. plurality of suitable bolts 36. At its upper extremitythe interior sleeve has suitably secured thereto a'n annular member orcollar 38 by meansof which the'exterior sleeve is held in position withrespect to the interior sleeve. Ball bearings 89, 39 are mounted withinthe stationary ysleeve 34 and at either extremity, for the purpose ofsupporting and permitting free rotation therein of a shaft 40, whichextends axially of the interior sleeve. A friction wheel 42 is suitablykeyed upon the shaft 40 above the sleeve and is of sucient -diametertocause Vit normally to engage the friction pinion 28 y by means vof acompression spring 56. The

spring is seated within a hollow pin 541- eX- tending axially through asubstantially horizontal and internally threaded aperture 52 in therocker arm, and is compressed between the pin and a threaded 'nut 58. Itwill .be understood that the pin is thrust againstthe outer surface ofthe exterior sleeve, the .tendency being to thrust the lower portion ofthe rocker arm away from the sleeve and the upper portion of the armtoward the sleeve with-the result that the force of the springkmaintains the' friction pinion against a bearing surface 571 of thefriction wheel. The threaded nut 58 is formed with arslottedy head 61 bymeans of which its position within the aperture maybe altered to varythe pressure between 'the friction pinions andthe bearing surfaceA 57 asdesired.

A mounting cup 59, for supporting a blank or die during drilling, issecured upon the upper end of the die spindle 18. The die spindle 18 ismovably supported by a spindle mounting block 62 upon a face 63 of which(Figs. 1 and 5) are mounted a pair of vertically aligned grooved rollers(Sa-54, rotatf ably mounted upon stationary pins G5-65. Substantiallyhorizontallyr opposite to the pins 65 are provided a. pair ofcylindrical plugs (S6-66 which extendthrough the mounting block fromfront to rear thereof and which are rotatable therein. The plugs areprovided upon the front ends thereof with off-centered stationary pinsG7 upon which are mounted grooved rollers 65E- 68.v Secured to each plugat the rear end thereof is an annular rim 7 0 formed with an arm 71; andthe arms of the upper and lower plugs are connected by a singleconnecting rod 72, whereby any movement of one of the plugs is reflectedin and controlled by movement of the other plug so that they rotate inunison. It will be observed that rotation of the cylindrical plugs willresult in movement of the pins 67 either toward or away from the rollers6a. However, springs 7&1-74 connect either end of the connecting rod 72to the block. thus requiring that the rollers be maintained normally insuch a position as to cause the rollers y68 and 64 to engage betweenthem the die spindle 18, and to permit its movement therebetween.Mounted upon ears 75 on the lower surface of the rocker arm is a pin 76, to which is secured one end of a leaf spring 78, the other end ofwhich rests upon laflrey 79 rigidly secured to the die spindle 18. Itwill be understood that the tendency of the spring is continually tourge the spindle downwardly. f

A gear 80 is keyed to the shaft 40 between the coupling 13 and the lowerball bearings 39, and meshes with an intermediate gear 82 mounted; upona shaft 83 which is secured in the fla-nge 35 of the interior sleeve.The flange is provided with a peripheral recess 84, in which isrotatably mounted a ring gear 86, having internal teeth 87, which meshwith the intermediate gear, in such manner that the ring gear is drivenin accordance with the rotation of the yshaft 40 about the pedestal. Atspaced points upon the periphery of the ring* gear a. plurality ofprojecting roller lobes 88 are affixed.v The exterior sleeve is providedwith a lower circular shelf ,91 upon the lower surface of which, at.each drilling unit, is secured a pin 92, to which is rotatably secured alever 93 having a ledge .94. The shelf is provided near the peripherythereof with spaced apertures 96 through each of which slidably extendsva pin 95, kwhich nor,- mally rests upon the ledge'of the lever. Upontheopposite end 'of the lever` from the ledge a roller 98 is mounted and,adjacent thereto, the leverk is provid-ed' with a compression spring -99which is seated within a hollow adjustable threaded member. 100 whicheX- tends through a threaded aperturey 102 throughV the lower circularshelf directly above the lever. It will be understood that the pressureof the spring 99 is suflicient to overcomevthe weight of the die spindleand pin and to maintain the roller' 98 in contact with the lobes 88 whenthey pass thereunder. It will also be noted that the pressure Y of thespring 99 is sufficient to secure the properpressure between the needleand the die.' W x A cylindrical cover 103 encloses thefmul` V-tiple unitdrilling machine at the upper p0rtion thereof vand consists of atopportion 104 and sides 106. The top 104 is provided with a centralaperture 105 within which rests a conical reservoir 107 which is firmlysecured to the top 1011v by suitable clamps 108-108. This reservoir isfor holding and forwarding a supply of cooling, lubricating or cuttingfluid 109 to each of the drilling units. This is accomplished byproviding, near the bottom of the conical reservoir and upon the samehorizontal level with each other, ten outlets or tubes 110, each ofwhichl is provided' with an individual tubing 111 which extendsdownwardly from the outlet' and through a vertical aperture 112 (Fig.2), with which the 'upper vertical shelf 30 is provided. It will benoted that the apertures 112 are positioned immediately adjacent theperipheral recesses 31. yThis is in order that after passing'therethrough the tube may eX- tend,` downwardly beside the tubularportion y ro 23 and beside .the drilling needle 27, and rest within themounting cup .59 when it has been raised to present the die blank to theLdrilling needle. The conica-l reservoir 107 is provided with a flexiblelid or diaphragm 114 whichis held thereon as to be airtight by theclamps 108. Downwardly through the center of the diaphragm extends aplunger rod 115 which is secured to the diaphragm and bears upon itslower extremity th-e plunger 116. As shown in F ig. 4 the plunger isprovided with a number of peripheral notches 118 in order to permit flowof the fluid 109 withV reference thereto without clogginv. Mounted inthe cylindrical sides 106 of the cover is a rotatable shaft 119 whichhas keyed thereto approximately at the center a bevel gear 120 whichmeshes with and is driven fromV a similar bevel gear 122 keyed to theupper extremity of the central drive shaft 40. To one end of the shaft119 a worm 123 is keyed, which meshes with a worm wheel 124 mounted upona shaft 126 positioned above the worm. xThe worm wheel is provided witha cam portion 127. Upon one ofthe clamps 108 a bracket 128 is mounted,in which is pivotally mounted an arm upon one endof which is secured theupperend of the plunger rod 115 and upon the other end of which issecured a tensioning spring 131, the tendency of which is to maintainthe plunger rod 115 in such a position thata substantial portion of themass of the plunger 116 is. withdrawn from the liuid 109, in whichcondition no fluid will pass downwardly through the tubing. The arm 130is tilted to operate the plunger by the cooperation with the lead of thecani of a rod 132 which extends vertically through the cover, and aguide sleeve 134 mounted there on, to engage the arm 130.

The slidable sleeve 24 is provided with a series of teeth 135 upon oneside thereof which are engaged by the teeth of a pinion 136 (Figs. 1 and3) which is rotatably mounted in the tubular portion 23. The pinion isrotated by means of a projecting knurled rim 138, by means of which theslidable sleeve may be raised or lowered manually. For the purpose ofloosening or stiifening the action of the sleeve, a threaded manuallyadjustable bolt 139 is provided which engages a thread-f ed aperture 137of the rocker arm and which may be either tightened or removed fromContact with the body of the sleeve in order to permit its control.

At each of the recesses 31 and threaded in the circular shelf 30, anadjusting bolt 140 v shaped rocker arm, and is provided with a finger143 which projects to the exterior of An outwardly the rocker armthrough-a slot 144 formed therein. l/Vhen the rocker arm is in theposition shown in Fig. 1 and the unit is in normal operation with thespindles being driven, the latch member 142 is depressed within therocker arm, the upper end of the latch member abutting the under surfaceof the shelf 30.

A plurality of manually controlled cut-off screws 145 (Figs. 1 and 2)are mounted upon the periphery of the upper shelf and extend through thesides 106 of the cover and to the apertures 112 and contact with thetubing 111, by means of'which the flow of fluid through the tubing maybeControlled.

From the foregoing it will be understood that all of the drilling unitsare driven by motor 46 through the shaft 40 which rotates the frictionwheel`42 to drive the drilling spindles through the friction rollers 28and at the bottom drives the ring gear 81'-, the lobular cani rollers ofwhich actuate the lever 93 to cause the alternate raising and loweringof the die spindle 18. The spacing of the cam rollers 88 is determinedunder conventional practice, the cams lift-` ing the roller 98 of thelever to lower the die spindle and die away from the drilling point 27,when it is desirable that the drill point addresstlie die anew.` Aftera` cani roller 88 has passed the lever roller 98, the latter isdepressed by the spring 99 and remains in such position until lifted bythe next cani roller 88 during which interval'the pin 95 is raised uponthe lever ledge 94 and the die is subjected to the drilling point.

rl`he fluid 109 may consist of a mixture of alcohol and diamond dust,which has been found to be an ei'iicient cutting compound. @ne method ofemploying such a cutting fluid is well known in the art, having beendescribed and claimed in Patent No. 1,677,172 issued on July 17, 1928 toFrederick `WL Colt-eck Sigurd Thronsen. ln the particular instance, thealternate supplying and withdrawal of the cutting liquid .simultaneouslyand continuously with respect to-a plurality of drilling units iseffected by means of the bevel gear 120 meshing with the bevel gear 122of the shaftY 40 and rotating the sin ft 119 to drive the worm 123. Theworm wheel 124 rotated thereby causing the cani 127 to alternately raiseand lower the cam pin 132. l/Vhen the pin 132 is in th-e pit of the camslead, the `tension spring 131 pulls the lever to cause the diaphragm 114to expand, thus lowering` the pressure within the Y reservoir anddrawing the plunger 116 above the surface of the liquid with ther doubleeflect of lowering the lev l of theliquid below the tubular openings110, thus preventing V l w L 1 liquid from flowing therethrough inwardlyinto the tubing 111 and, duc to the decrease in pressure, withdrawingthe liquid in the mounting cup 59 upwardly through the tub'- nfr 111 andinto the reservoir. As the wheel aces a quantity thereof, which issquirtdownwardly through the tubing 111 due to t voi (ruil he increasedpressure within the reserwill be seen that the operation of the aratusin the three phases just described i egular and normally continuous withrespect to each of the drilling units. From time to time, however, it isdesirable to stop the operations with respectr to one or more of theunits without interrupting the worlring ofthe remaining units, as forinstance, when it is desired to inspect a being drilled to determine itscondition as to completion. Vllhis may be readily accomplished by asingle workman who, without changing hi station, may grasp that unitwhich is within most convenient reach and thrust it manually to one sideso as to force the ball 50 from the particular depression 51 in which itis seated and forcibly rotate the or: erior Vsleeve with respect to theinterior sleeve until that unit to which he desires access is close athand as desired. rlhc workman then rotates the sleeve in eitherdirection a sufficient distance to cause the ball to engage in anotherone of the locking depressions 51, thus securing the units in positionso as to permit their continued normal operation inthe manner describedabove.

By adjusting the cut-od screwk 145, the operator then stops the flow ofcutting fluid to the die under inspection. By means of the knurledcap.133, he then rotates the pinion 136 which engages the teeth 135 toraise the slidable sleeve 24. The drilling spindle 16 and the frictionpinion upon the upper end thereof are thus raised with the sleeve untilthe pinion rises above the f iction surface 57 of the wheel 42, thusstopping the rotation of the `drilling spindle 16 and providin0f ampleroom beneath the drilling point 27 for acc ess to the mounting cup 59.rEhe operator then grasps theV upper portion of the rocker arm and pullsit outwardly from the recess 31,

the arm pivoting at 22. The latch member 142 is expelled by its springfrom the body of the arm and projects in front of the bolt 14()andmaintains the arinin tilted position against the pressure of thespring 56. The

rocker may be replaced in the recess 3l by pressing the finger 143downwardly against its spring and pressing the tubular portion inwardly,to cause the latch member to again engage the under surface of the shelf30. The outward tilting movement of the rocker arm moves the die spindle18 out of alignment with the reciprocating pin 95, thus stoppingthereciprocationV of the die spindle. The

i tension of the leaf spring 7 8 therebyl becomes effective upon the key79 causing the die spindle to Vfalldownwardly until the mounting cup hasreached the lowest extent of its trav-el, thus providing additionalspace thereabove. In case the diefis found to have been completelyformed andit is desired to supplant it with a new blank, or in case itis desired for any otherreason to remove thedie spindle from the unit,this is easily accomplished by the operator grasping the connecting rod72 and pulling it downwardly as shown in F ig. 5. This results in acontracloclrwise rotation of the cylindrical plug 66 causing the rollers68-68 to be moved away from the rollers 6464 and permitting the easywithdrawal of thel die spindle between` the sets of rollers.

rlheV spindle may be replaced in a corresponding manner by pulling theconnecting rod 7-2 downwardly and inserting the new spindle between therollers and releasing the connecting rod, thus permitting the 'spring 74to draw the rollers 63 into proper position so that-the spindle isproperly positioned between the rollers 68 andthe rollers 64. ldhen thisis accomplished and when it becomes desirable to resiune operations withthe unit, the operator rotates the pinion 136 vto draw the slidablesleeve and enclosed spindle 16 downwardly into a normally operative 9position. He then releases the latch 143 and lowers the linger 142, thuspermitting the spring 56 to become eifective to restore the tubularportion 23 within the recess 31 and e'ect operative engagement betweenthe friction pinion 23 and the wheel 42. v4By this movement the diespindle 18 becomes realigned with the reciprocating pin 95 and when theoperator releases the cut-off screw 145 to permit reestablishment of theflow of cutting fluid into the mounting cup, the unit is once more inoperation.

' By use of the apparatus described, whereby the continuous operation ofthe drill spindles, the reciprocation of the die spindles and theintermittent and reversible action of the cam operated pumping systemwhereby cutting fluid is distributed to each of the multiple units andwithdrawn therefrom by suction, a Very ecient and compact machine ispresented by means of which operation of the plurality of spindlesissecured from one motor, and control of the units individually andcollectively by one workman is made practicable. i

What is claimed is:

1. ln a drilling mechanism, a member for holdingthe object to be workedand formed to heldw cutting fluid about the object, means for performingworlr upon the object, means for actuating the working means, areservoir containing supply of cutting fluid, means fastened to thereservoir; for directing fluid therebetween andthe object holder, a.diaphragm affixed to the reservoir, a plunger connected with thediaphragm for regulating the height of fluid in the reservoir, and meansconnected with the actuating means and operable in response thereto forcontrolling the movements of the plunger and the actuations of thediaphragm to cause predetermined quantities of `fluid to be transmittedto the object holder at predetermined intervals and after use thereinportions thereof to be Areturned to the reservoir over the same path atpredetermined intervals.

2. In a mechanism for drilling objects, a member for holding an objectto be worked and formed to hold cutting fluid aboutI an object, meansfor performing work on an object, means for actuating the working means,a reservoir containing a supply of cutting fluid., means entirelyenclosed and fastened to the reservoir for directing thefluidtherebetween and the object holder, a diaphragm affixed to thereservoir, a plunger attached to the diaphragm for -controllingrtheheight of the fluid inthe reservoir and the movements of the diaphragm,a spring, a centrally pivoted lever having one end connected with theplunger and the opposite end thereof secured to the spring, and cammeans engaging the lever and actuating means and operable in response tothe actuating means to cooperate with the spring for controlling themovements of the lever for periodically actuating the plunger anddiaphragm to cause fluid to be transmitted through the directing meansto the object holder and thereafter to cause a portion thereof to bereturned to the reservoir over the same path 3. In a mechanism fordrilling objects, a plurality of holders for containing a cutting fluidabout an object, a plurality of means for simultaneously drillingobjects, common means for actuating the drilling means, a reservoir forcontaining a supply of cutting fluid, a plurality of common outlet andinlet tubes formed in the reservoir, a plurality of enclosed meansattached to the tubes for directing the fluid between the reservoir andthe object holders, means associated with the directing means forselectively restricting.

the movement of the fluid therethrough, a diaphragm affixed to thereservoir, a plunger attached to the diaphragm for controlling the levelof the fluidin the reservoir and the movements of the diaphragm, andmeans connected with the actuating means and operatively responsivethereto for controlling the movements of the plunger to actuate thediaphragm for varying the pressure in the reservoir to cause thesimultaneous transmission of predetermined amounts of fluid from thereservoir through the selectively controlled directing means to theobject holders and i thereafter simultaneously returning portionsthereof through the same directing means to the reservoir.

4. In a mechanism for drilling objects, a

holder adapted to hold an object enveloped in a cutting fluid, means forworking an object, means for actuating the working means, a reservoircontaining a sup-ply of cutting fluid', a conduit aflixed tol thereservoir for directing the fluid therebetween and the object holder, adiaphragm secured to the reservoir, a plunger attached to the diaphragmfor controlling the level of fluid in the reservoir and movements ofthediaphragm, and means connected with the actuating means and operable inresponse thereto for moving the plunger and actuating the diaphragm toregulate the pressurewithin the reservoir so that variations in pressurecooperate with movements of the plunger to cause predeterminedVquantities of fluid to be transmitted from the reservoir through theconduit to the object holder at predetermined intervals and thereafterto return portions thereof through the same conduit to the reservoir atpredetermined intervals.

ln witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe

